[telemach]

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

My simple tests showing you that overheating is real and happening.
Bonus section includes 'missed' AF and really strange file sizes which might suggest various compression settings used for nearly same image.

[BigMackCam]

Sadly, this seems more and more common across the brands these days, with various models capable of overheating under moderate usage.

It would be great if we could use our gear without it warming up so quickly but, as well we know, components and batteries generate heat. Pack enough of them - including the power source - into a small space protected (even slightly) from dust and debris intrusion, run them continuously and the temperature in that space will quickly rise.

Whilst I don't think your tests are excessively stressful, I do wonder how many folks are likely to take a photo every ten seconds for 19 minutes continuously, and if they do, how often they're likely to stress the camera in this way. A more typical scenario, I'd say, is that folks tend to power on the camera, wander around, take a handful of shots and then power it off until needed again (or, at the very least, not take any more photos for a while). Perhaps this is why we don't hear of many overheating reports?

Thanks for posting your findings. I'm sure they'll be of interest to GRIII owners, and helpful to them in avoiding overheating.

[ne!]

My GRIII doesn't overheat, and it's a wonderful camera with outstanding image quality.

[Kevin B123]

This an interesting test, do I understand correctly that the battery is the heat source and not the camera internals?, if so this can be alleviated by an external power bank, for astrophotography for instance.

Of course conditions are cooler and more favourable in that scenario anyway, by sub- one hour star trails are sub optimal.

Edit: Scrub this, i thought it could be used with a power pack, but it seems not.

---

Last edited by Kevin B123; 09-09-2020 at 01:23 PM. Reason: edit

[telemach]

Whilst I don't think your tests are excessively stressful, I do wonder how many folks are likely to take a photo every ten seconds for 19 minutes continuously, and if they do, how often they're likely to stress the camera in this way.

It is clearly stated in the video that test was done to get this overheating quickly but in real life scenario it takes my camera 40 to 90 minutes for example and it occurs so you don't need to stress the camera, it is a game of waiting when everything is gonna boil to critical temp.

[telemach]

My GRIII doesn't overheat, and it's a wonderful camera with outstanding image quality.

OK so I understand you are saying you did stress the camera and nothing happened and you are not yet another user who doesn't reveal if personal usage is reaching high temps.

[telemach]

This an interesting test, do I understand correctly that the battery is the heat source and not the camera internals?

wrong, in the introduction to the video I said that it is a mix of different elements but it is true that battery has the largest area and so it is main source of high temp BUT it wouldn't be such a problem if that heat would have a way to get out of battery compartment

if so this can be alleviated by an external power bank, for astrophotography for instance.

well Ricoh made it impossible to use powerbank and battery coupler as it was in previous models but you can try with DB100 battery coupler and open battery cover, that should work however I am not sure about sensor heat for longer exposures

[BigMackCam]

It is clearly stated in the video...

... you are not yet another user who doesn't reveal if personal usage is reaching high temps.

wrong, in the introduction to the video I said that it is a mix of different elements but it is true that battery has the largest area and so it is main source of high temp BUT it wouldn't be such a problem if that heat would have a way to get out of battery compartment

With respect, although I'm sure you don't intend it, your replies come across as just a little curt That could be misunderstanding on my part (if so, please accept my apologies), or frustration on yours (I'm guessing you're frustrated by the overheating issue, given that you've produced YouTube content about it).

You can expect most folks here to appreciate the sincerity of your video and your very first post here. What you can't necessarily expect is that other GRIII owners will have experienced the same problem, since (a) I'm assuming your tests are limited to just your own camera, and (b) other owners won't have the same usage patterns. You also can't expect that everyone will watch and listen to every second of your video... Some will watch with no sound, others will skip through bits or even most of it for the "TL;DR", etc.

I'm not doubting your experience with the camera for one second. However, in my experience, owners of any equipment tend to be pretty vocal when they run up against flaws (the wobbly function wheel on the early GRIII being a case in point), and the fact that we've not had many (or even any?) similar reports of overheating suggests that this may not be a widespread problem with the camera design, given "typical" usage. I guess time - and any further responses in this thread - will tell.

As it stands, your video is valuable as a comparison for other owners with their own experiences, and potentially for its utility in helping to avoid any overheating. So, thank you for posting it.

By the way, welcome to the forums

[c.a.m]

My simple tests showing you that overheating is real and happening.

@telemach,

(Welcome to Pentax Forums from Canada)

I think your video is a pretty good presentation of your experimental set-up and your tests. I was able to follow along and understand your procedure and data.

Am I correct in seeing that the ambient temperature during the tests was in the range of 31 - 35 degrees Celsius?

It's interesting that the specifications for the camera at the Ricoh website and in the operating manual do not explicitly indicate an operating temperature range for the overall camera, only for the battery and the AC power adapter. However, I would think that ambient temperatures in the mid-30s C would normally stress this compact camera. Also, it appears that the camera was in direct sunlight for parts of the tests, which could produce further thermal stresses.

Have you run any tests at a lower ambient temperature, say 20 degrees? Could you comment on your experience in using the camera 'in the field' at those lower temperatures?

I don't own a GR III, but am interested from a general engineering and design perspective.

Thanks.

- Craig

[aaacb]

I haven't had this issue, but I'm also not using the camera continuously for a long time, such as for time lapse. I have the sleep timer set to two minutes and usually what's worth photographing is over in a matter of seconds.

[stevebrot]

Welcome to the Pentax Forums!

Interesting video and very nicely documented. It is a little unusual for a new member to lead with a strong criticism of the product, but I did watch the video (sound turned off) and do have a few comments.

I am not a GRIII owner, but my K-3 behaves similarly when used in live view in interval mode with short interval under fairly high ambient temperatures. Live view with a short interval is pretty much equivalent to shooting video, so the behavior does not surprise me; self-protect for video happens after about the same period of time and yes the battery does get hot in both cases. In fact, much of the camera becomes hot to the touch. As in your case, the camera gives little warning beyond a message and abrupt shutdown. Ricoh claims an operating range of up to 40C for the K-3 and it is good to that temperature, just not in continuous operation. I don't do that style of work so it has never been an issue. I don't manage continuous activity at 34C very well and am likely to fail before the camera.

It appears you have found a performance limit for that aspect of your camera. As noted in the video, the use case is unusual and not representative of what most people might do in actual shooting. From your account, this is a common issue for you and not something that Ricoh has been able to address through repair. There might be some way to attach a heat sink of some sort using the tripod socket. Alternatively, working during the cooler times of day might be a solution. Perhaps Ricoh might have a firmware update at some point that includes option for an audio alarm when overheating to avoid the abrupt surprise?


Steve

[ne!]

With respect, although I'm sure you don't intend it, your replies come across as just a little curt

I believe the OP’s aggressive reply to my post and others here is very telling.

FWIW, this video was posted to the Ricoh forum at dpreview less than an hour before he came here to create a new account so as to post the same thing. I’ll admit that this strikes me as self-serving and needlessly inflammatory and I don’t like it.

[BigMackCam]

this video was posted to the Ricoh forum at dpreview less than an hour before he came here to create a new account so as to post the same thing. I’ll admit that this strikes me as self-serving and needlessly inflammatory and I don’t like it.

I trust no offence was intended. We're a friendly community here, and I think we owe our new member a warm welcome and the benefit of the doubt so far as intentions are concerned The video investigation is well constructed, and potentially valuable if taken in context of individual owner's usage patterns. So long as we all remain open-minded to the possibility of this being a design limitation with the camera, and the OP remains open-minded to the possibility that the limitation doesn't affect many people in typical usage scenarios, we're all good

[telemach]

your replies come across as just a little curt

that's a shocker, what makes you think like that ?

What you can't necessarily expect is that other GRIII owners will have experienced the same problem

I don't expect others to share the experience. I titled 'caught on video' to provide a clear evidence that overheating that GR is prone is happening and if you never experienced that issue then you can see when and how it looks like

I'm assuming your tests are limited to just your own camera, and (b)

sure, you see one camera on video so it's the right assumption it is just my own camera; I declared on video that I am open to test more under different conditions

other owners won't have the same usage patterns.

yes, that's exactly what I wrote in the introduction

You also can't expect that everyone will watch and listen to every second of your video... Some will watch with no sound, others will skip through bits or even most of it for the "TL;DR", etc.

why would I expect that ? I can assume that there will be some viewers that are not interested about overheating but would like to see picture that is less than 1% different but 6 Megabytes smaller

reports of overheating suggests that this may not be a widespread problem with the camera design, given "typical" usage.

it is widespread; it is fact GR III might overheat and you are warned in the manual but the question is if your usage is getting the camera reach these critical temps; there shouldn't be 'typical' or 'untypical' usage problems because with previous models you could have used camera however you wanted and overheating wasn't happening

As it stands, your video is valuable as a comparison for other owners with their own experiences

absolutely and other owners can repeat my test in their own 'backyard'

By the way, welcome to the forums

I am long time member but I don't know what happened to my account so I had to re-register

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 02:04 AM ----------

I think your video is a pretty good presentation of your experimental set-up and your tests. I was able to follow along and understand your procedure and data.

thank you for your input

Am I correct in seeing that the ambient temperature during the tests was in the range of 31 - 35 degrees Celsius?

yes but please understand that ambient has very minor effect on overheating; overheating is happening when internal temp is reach critical limit; I can do same test inside in cold place and overheating will happen but probably a little bit longer; I take pictures indoors and during winter time so overheating is not gone under these conditions but might take a little bit more time to 'reach it'; problem is with getting rid of this temp that sources from inside the camera; I can tell you that taking pictures with opened battery cover has some positive effect to managing temperature

It's interesting that the specifications for the camera at the Ricoh website and in the operating manual do not explicitly indicate an operating temperature range for the overall camera

BTW same manual doesn't specify fps for continuous shooting

Have you run any tests at a lower ambient temperature, say 20 degrees? Could you comment on your experience in using the camera 'in the field' at those lower temperatures?

sure I have plenty of video material (documenting overheating) from streets taken for example in November

general engineering and design perspective.

that's interesting angle; they knew overheating will happen but designed camera this way

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 02:05 AM ----------

I'm also not using the camera continuously for a long time, such as for time lapse.

funny that they implemented intervalometer knowing that overheating might be an issue

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 02:22 AM ----------

Welcome to the Pentax Forums!
It is a little unusual for a new member to lead with a strong criticism of the product

I am no new member but long time heavy user of GR line with probably one the highest 'mileage' taken with previous GR

I don't do that style of work so it has never been an issue. I don't manage continuous activity at 34C very well and am likely to fail before the camera.

it is summer and test conditions were chosen to favor overheating quickly but in real life overheating happens no matter what ambient temp is; it might take 40 minutes but as well 90; there are so many factors

It appears you have found a performance limit for that aspect of your camera. As noted in the video, the use case is unusual and not representative of what most people might do in actual shooting.

of course, this is proof of overheating video; it would be much harder to have someone following me for 90 minutes, recording video and waiting when overheating will happen; what I can and did was recording a video when in real life this happened; I have some of those where you see the camera doing nothing or little and overheating turning off the camera;

From your account, this is a common issue for you and not something that Ricoh has been able to address through repair.

exactly; they know it will overheat so they did warning and turning off, if it's in manual then it is affecting all the cameras and IMHO it is fair to call it a common issue

I am not sure if that you could be addressed through repair, you would have to replace battery cover to different or place some heat absorption elements to get this under wraps

There might be some way to attach a heat sink of some sort using the tripod socket.

yes but that will for studio shoots and not outdoors comfort

Perhaps Ricoh might have a firmware update at some point that includes option for an audio alarm when overheating to avoid the abrupt surprise?

there are many different issues that could be repaired by firmware update but having reported these to Ricoh reps didn't make any change yet

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 02:27 AM ----------

I believe the OP’s aggressive reply to my post and others here is very telling.

if there is any aggression then prove it, if not why would you write something like that ?

FWIW, this video was posted to the Ricoh forum at dpreview less than an hour before he came here to create a new account so as to post the same thing.

I would post instantly on 10 more forums if that would help getting the issue known and fixed; it is in Ricoh users interest to have camera that is not overheating no matter is stressed or not

I’ll admit that this strikes me as self-serving

self serving ??? overheating while taking pictures is a marketing nightmare and IMHO camera shouldn't be released with such a 'feature'

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 02:35 AM ----------

OP remains open-minded to the possibility that the limitation doesn't affect many people in typical usage scenarios, we're all good

OP wrote that in the introduction and summary of the video so I will repeat myself again; as long as your usage is not getting camera too hot (49-53 Celsius)
then you are safe but the purpose of the video is to show that Ricoh made a product that is forcing users to adjust their usage to camera limits; it wasn't the case with previous models; it's not the case with other manufacturers it is Ricoh GRIII that is overheating while taking pictures; no matter what you do with your GRIII (photos, videos, timelapse) overheating might happen and it is a real possibility so you are warned in the manual and at LCD

[BigMackCam]

that's a shocker, what makes you think like that ?

Perhaps just a consequence of forum communication... it can be tricky to read someone's tone without the benefit of face-to-face context

I don't expect others to share the experience. I titled 'caught on video' to provide a clear evidence that overheating that GR is prone is happening and if you never experienced that issue then you can see when and how it looks like

...

sure, you see one camera on video so it's the right assumption it is just my own camera; I declared on video that I am open to test more under different conditions

...

yes, that's exactly what I wrote in the introduction

why would I expect that ? I can assume that there will be some viewers that are not interested about overheating but would like to see picture that is less than 1% different but 6 Megabytes smaller

Your response to @ne! gave me that impression, but I'm happy to accept I misunderstood. Again, perhaps just a consequence of forum communication.

it is widespread; it is fact GR III might overheat and you are warned in the manual but the question is if your usage is getting the camera reach these critical temps; there shouldn't be 'typical' or 'untypical' usage problems because with previous models you could have used camera however you wanted and overheating wasn't happening

...

absolutely and other owners can repeat my test in their own 'backyard'

With respect, here we disagree slightly. Most (perhaps all?) modern cameras - especially those where ever more features and capabilities are squeezed into ever-smaller spaces - quickly generate enough heat under certain environmental and usage conditions to require overheating protection. @stevebrot mentioned his experience with the K-3... Other recent examples include Canon's R5 and Panasonic's S5, but there are plenty more, I'm sure. Manufacturers are really stretching what can (and, IMHO, should) be done with the available technology and minimal cooling . I don't think the GRIII can be directly compared to the GRII, tempting and natural though it may be to do so, since the III is an entirely new camera in many respects, including the more compact design. Far from it being surprising that a camera released in 2019 should have such a limitation, it seems to be quite common (if unfortunate). Even so, whilst I can accept the limitation may be widespread across most or all units, I don't see it as a widespread "problem" - since current lack of evidence suggests most owners aren't triggering the limitation in their own environmental conditions and usage patterns. Presumably they could recreate the scenario using your test conditions, but if it's not a problem for them in general use, why would they? Clearly, Ricoh believed that most users wouldn't encounter the limitation, or it wouldn't have released the camera.

I have a Raspberry Pi 4B single board computer, located in my home office which usually has an ambient temperature of 21 - 22 deg C. Running menial tasks, the processor stays within an acceptable temperature range - but if I start running multiple processor-intensive tasks for longer periods of time, the temperature quickly rises to the point of throttling. Regularly running the machine in those conditions would significantly shorten the life of the processor and eventually kill it much sooner than many might consider reasonable. As such, I've added heat-sinks to the processor and certain other ICs, and installed the board in vented case with temperature-controlled fan - a combination that works well, but is a considerable update to the product as sold. This, incidentally, was not required with the older Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 models, nor indeed the current Pi Zero W. Is this a flaw with the Pi 4B? I don't think so. For many common use cases, the board will rarely reach throttling temperature, and when it does, only for short periods of time. It's a limitation, no doubt, but a consequence of so much computing power being squeezed onto so few integrated devices running at relatively high clock speeds without sufficient cooling...

---------- Post added 10-09-20 at 11:06 ----------

OP wrote that in the introduction and summary of the video so I will repeat myself again

I retract my earlier comment re possible misunderstanding on my part. It's wording such as the above that strikes me as curt

I'll step out of this particular discussion now, but look forward to learning more on the subject as the thread progresses... as a reader, rather than contributor